Saturday, February 19, 2011

Beers from Around the World (#50 of 50) Sleeman from Canada




Yes, we never thought it would come to an end either, but today, we are featuring our final entry in our Beers Around the World series with a look at Canada's third most popular beer, Sleeman which as it turns out is surprisingly difficult to find here in America.

In total, we have focused on 50 beers from 44 different countries, and only the Chilean beer (we think it was Cristal) gave us some problems.

Sleeman Beer, which some people call Sleeman's, ranks third behind Molson and Labatts, which are both widely available in America, in domstic Canadian sales.

The beer was founded in Guelph, Ontario, in 1834. It actually ceased operations because it was a popular beer that was illegally brought into Detroit during the Prohibition era in the late 1930s. Ironically, Michigan is apparently now one of the few places where Sleeman Beer can be found.

Sleeman Beer was restarted in 1988, and it became so popular in Canada that the Japanese brewery giant Sapporo purcahsed the company for $400 million in 2006.

Sleeman comes in a cream ale as well as in original drafts and original darks.

Since the company has decided, for some reason, not to fool with the American market, one place where one could probably find it would the Shark Bar and Grill in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which might be worth a road trip to get out of Provo, Utah.

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